(Homily by The Rev. Dr. Winfred B. Vergara, program officer for Asian American Ministries of the Episcopal Church on June 6, 2008 at Grand Hotel, Kaohsiung, Taiwan on the occasion of the Annual Consultation and 35th anniversary of EAM)

Text: Luke 24:44-53

Introduction

Jesus said: “I am sending you what my Father promised; so stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

“Stay in the city…” this must be the most challenging part of Jesus’ instruction to the eleven disciples before his ascension. As fishermen from Galilee, the city of Jerusalem was quite fascinating but also intimidating. For most of their lives, they lived in the countryside. They received their call while mending their nets. They served with Jesus mostly by the lakeside, hillside and countryside of Palestine. When they entered Jerusalem, it was a terrifying experience: Jesus was rejected, mock, spat upon, crucified and buried. Of course, he rose from the dead but the memory of death still hangs over them like the proverbial sword of Damocles. Their first instinct was to go back fishing.

But Jesus has a command: “proclaim repentance and forgiveness…but stay city in the city.” I can only imagine the magnitude of the task these Galileans are being set up to accomplish. How are they able to communicate the gospel of Christ in the language of the city?

I am reminded of a story about a president of a Third World country who visited the United States for the first time. Contrary to what he had been told, the Americans were neither racist nor stiff upper lip, but are in fact, hospitable. He was invited to the White House and given a red carpet welcome. He was housed in a luxurious hotel, there were so many parties given in his honor, and he received so many gifts. At the gala reception given in his honor, he wanted to express his gratitude to his hosts, which included the U.S. president, members of the cabinet, some senators and congressmen and other dignitaries. Although he was struggling with the English language, he wanted to impress his hosts so he refused the service of a translator and in halting English said: “My friends, I thanks (sic) you very much for your hostility. If you come to my own country, I will revenge.”

LANGUAGE OF THE CITY

Learning a new language and communicating a message in that language is a daunting task. In Asia, I would often find English-speaking tourists who would ask for direction from the native and the latter would shrug his shoulder and say, “I…no English.” The tourist would speak louder thinking that his loud voice would compensate for the native’s inability to speak English.

So it is indeed a miracle when on the day of Pentecost, the promised Holy Spirit came, resting upon the disciples and they began to speak in the many languages of the city---Parthian, Medean, Elamite, Mesopotamian, Judean, Cappadocian, Phrygian, Egyptian, Libyan, Cyrene, Roman, Cretan, Arabic. Amazed and perplexed, the people of cosmopolitan Jerusalem asked: “Are not these folks Galilean? Why is it that we hear them speaking in our own languages?”

The gift of languages is probably one miracle that I pray God would give me. I remember with shame, my experience many years ago, when we had our EAM Consultation in Hong Kong and on our free time, I went with my wife and some non-Chinese friends to a street café in Kowloon. I ordered chicken rice but the cook could not understand me. So I tried to flap my arms like a chicken but he just laughed. Then I decided to draw a chicken and showed it to him. He said, “Ahhh…” We were quite confident that he knew what I had ordered but when he returned, he gave us a big plate of beef! I realized I was not only bad in language; I was also bad as an artist. My chicken looked like a cow!

CITY’S AMBIGUITIES

The city is not only blessed with multiple languages but also cultures, races and nations. Harvey Cox, a theologian in the 1960’s wrote his book, The Secular City, and his thesis was that Jesus is first of all, the Lord of history before becoming the head of the Church. That is probably why Jesus is so concerned with the life and future of the city.  When he saw the masses and was gripped with compassion (for they were “like sheep without a shepherd”), it seems to me that Jesus was seeing, not the country but the city---the city with all its blessings and curses, with all its excesses and frailties, with all its idols and human sin--in all its protean forms.

Cities are the snapshots of civilization’s ambiguities. It is in the city where you find the Avenue of Hope as well as the Boulevard of Broken Dreams; it is in the city where you find the Streets of Opportunity as well as the Dustbins of Wasted Lives; it is in the city where you find the Gallery of Human Excellence as well as the Alleys of Human Depravity.

But it is also in the city where you will see the face of God, masked by the flash of the neon lights. It is in the city where you will hear the voice of God, muffled by the sound of technology. It is in the city where you will stumble upon God in the look of a stranger, lost amidst the frenetic pace of life. It is in the city where you will feel the heart of God, throbbing in compassion to those who are left out in the cold---homeless, jobless and hungry---even in the midst of hedonism and excess.

Perhaps this is what the poet George Eliot meant when she said, “If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, we would see the blade of grass grow and hear the squirrel’s heartbeat and we should die at the roar that lies at the other side of silence.”  Yes, it would be impossible for you and me to hear the deafening noise of human heartaches, but somewhere in the city, there is a place where these heartaches are stored. It is in the heart of God. For even if the heart of the city is crowded enough for God, God’s heart is large enough for the city. God then takes all of the city’s heartaches and funnels them to his servants, his disciples so that they might sense his burden and proclaim his message.

St. Paul, preaching in the Aeropagus, centuries ago, said, “People of Athens, I see that in every way, you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I found an altar with this inscription:’ to an unknown God.’ Now what you worship as something unknown, I am going to proclaim to you.” St. Augustine, reflecting on the demise of the empire city of Rome, wrote the book Civitas Dei, the City of God. Volumes 1-10 of the book talks about the City of Man, where man is the center. This is a city built by man’s pride, by man’s greed, by man’s ambition. This city, Augustine said, “will always die.” Volumes 11-20 speaks about the City of God, where God is the center. This is a city built by God’s love, by God’s peace, by God’s compassion. This city, Augustine said, “will never die.”

PROCLAIMING GOD IN THE CITY

Proclaiming the “unknown God” in the city, building the City of God in the hearts and minds of the city---was the mission of the apostles---and it is our mission too. Bishop Richard Chang used to say to us that the “EAM is a Pentecost ministry.” It is a ministry from many cultures, and races, and tongues and languages and nations.  

Harvey Cox noted that prophets come from the boondocks dressing the sycamore like Amos or eating locusts and wild honey like John the Baptist. They strode into the mainstream of society, challenging its structures, announcing justice like free-flowing rivers and righteousness like cascading streams. The apostles began their missions from the countryside and strode into the city preaching the gospel of Christ. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they preached in the synagogues; when driven from synagogues, they preached on the streets; when arrested, they preached in prisons. The early Church organized churches in the homes, in the catacombs, in the halls and hallways. Nothing can stop them, because the power that is within them is greater than the power that is in the world.

It is no coincidence that the Episcopal Asian American Ministries are located in the urban centers of the United States. We are on Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, San Diego, Seattle, Las Vegas, New York, Maryland, Washington D.C., Tampa, Virginia Beach, Chicago, Phoenix, Honolulu, Guam, Saipan and most major cities of the United States.

The mission of the EAM is to bear witness to God in the City. It seems to me that to be effective in our witness, we must be involved in a kind of double-wrestling.

First, we must struggle to move from the margins to the mainstream of the American Church. The EAM is no longer marginalized in the Episcopal Church but an integral part of its life and mission. We should not wait to be invited to the leadership of the diocese and the national church. We should step up to offer our gifts, our energies, our mission and vision.

Second, we must pray to be used by God mightily revival of the church and the spiritual awakening of the city. We must be at the forefront of evangelism and mission in the 21st century. I certainly hope that this EAM Consultation will give us new insights into greater effectiveness and fruitfulness of our ministries.

Conclusion

One of my favorite saints is St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis was not only known for his being able to communicate with birds and animals and for his deep compassion for the poor. He kissed the leper and devoted himself to the pursuit of reconciliation and peace. St. Francis was also a reformer of the medieval church. At a time when the Church was at its lowest ebb in faith and faithfulness, Francis heard the voice of God: “rebuild the church.” Francis began by literally rebuilding the Church of St. Damian by the walls of Assisi city. But that was only the beginning. Brother Francis, Sister Claire and the whole Franciscan Order would later be used by God in the revival, renewal, reformation, revitalization and reconciliation of the Catholic Church.

Tonight, I pray that here, in this Consultation, God will again pour out His Spirit once again, so that we, the EAM, maybe empowered to cause a new revival, renewal, reformation, revitalization and reconciliation of The Episcopal Church. And I pray that such a spirit of revival will flow out to our city and will cause a mighty awakening, repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.